Course Descriptions

As of 3/3/2015 5:25:07 AM

National Security Litigation

National Security Litigation: Practical and Doctrinal Challenges

This course will simulate the practice of public-interest lawyers challenging domestic and international government practices in the ?war on terror,? chosen from among (depending in part on student interest and in part on current events and developments in the law) preventive detention, targeted killing, electronic surveillance, government surveillance of communities, and watchlisting. Students will decide what kinds of plaintiffs to seek out, and will formulate claims, draft complaints, and prepare to counter motions to dismiss, addressing possible challenges to standing and invocations of the various secrecy and government immunity doctrines frequently encountered in national security cases. They will also plan to address the unavoidable political component of such litigation, by formulating media and advocacy plans designed in light of the first, most difficult choices to be made in any such challenge: the political and litigation ends of the effort as a whole. Depending on student interest we may attempt, periodically or in small groups, to reverse roles and approach the cases from the government side on both the litigation and political/media fronts.